English cucumbers sickening Canadians with Salmonella

The Public Health Agency of Canada is collaborating with provincial public health partners, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and Health Canada to investigate an outbreak of Salmonella infections involving five provinces: British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Quebec. The illness reported in Quebec was related to travel to British Columbia.

Based on the investigation findings to date, exposure to long English cucumbers has been identified as the likely source of the outbreak. Many of the individuals who became sick reported eating long English cucumbers before their illness. However, more information is needed to determine the possible causes of contamination. The outbreak appears to be ongoing, as illnesses continue to be reported.

The Public Health Agency of Canada is issuing this updated public health notice to inform residents in western Canada of the investigation findings to date and to share important safe food handling practices to help prevent further Salmonella infections. At this time, there is no evidence to suggest that residents in eastern Canada are affected by this outbreak.

As of November 2, 2018, there have been 50 laboratory-confirmed cases of Salmonella Infantis illness investigated in the following provinces: British Columbia (42), Alberta (5), Saskatchewan (1), Manitoba (1), and Quebec (1). The individual from Quebec reported traveling to British Columbia before becoming ill. Individuals became sick between mid-June and early-October 2018. Ten individuals have been hospitalized. No deaths have been reported. Individuals who became ill are between 1 and 92 years of age. The majority of cases (58%) are female.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency continues to collaborate with the overall outbreak investigation. If contaminated food products are identified, they will take the necessary steps to protect the public, including recalling the product as required. Currently there are no Food Recall Warnings associated with this outbreak.

On October 19, 2018, Washington State health officials announced a Salmonella outbreak linked to English cucumbers sold at Costco. The outbreak investigation identified 6 confirmed cases of Salmonella infections in the state of Washington. The last reported illness happened on September 15, 2018. Counties affected include:

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The Salmonella blog supplements Marler Clark’s Web site About Salmonella, a site that provides information about Salmonella, the symptoms and risks of infection, testing and the detection of salmonellosis, and how to prevent Salmonella outbreaks.